Living With Lions

 I want to congratulate Vancouver natives Living With Lions on reaching a dream, a goal, a conquest of virtually every punk rocker out there. They've upset the Department of Canadian Heritage. Their new album aesthetically resembles a bible and is (in)appropriately titled Holy Shit.

While I think that the head of the Department of Canadian Heritage has the right to his own opinion,  and the right to be in touch with FACTOR, a publicly funded subsidy program for major and minor artists alike, I hope that the result of these conversations does not influence the choices of FACTOR, or embarrass Duncan McKie. I think that it's fairly clear that Canadian musicians are working outside of a model that is self-sustaining, and the Canadian government has opted to recognize and aid this to help continue the progression of Canadian arts. You can see a list of approvals here; they include large names including The Trews and Shawn Desman, two very prominent and nationally recognized acts.

Which is exactly why I don't think that the Heritage Minister should be allowed to weigh in on an album cover that may offend a religious group. The album cover does not promote hate, and the concept of offense here is rather subjective. Personally, I'm annoyed that my tax dollars are spent on sexually driven music about moneyshots being played on radio stations targeted at young girls, courtesy of Mr. Desman. But I'm going to let it slide, because I understand that pop music is largely sexually driven, vulgar, and marketed towards teens. To deny Shawn the ability to talk about sex in his music would be to hinder his ability as an artist. I think it's a fairly easy argument that to deny a rock or punk artist his ability to be provocative would be to deny the form of art itself.

I encourage people to contact FACTOR and show them some appreciation for allowing the progress and development of Canadian music, and applaud him prematurely for resisting the pressures of the Canadian Heritage minister.

Capture the Flag

Photo courtesy of eych-you-bee-ee-ahr-tee via CC BY-NC license.

When I was a kid, the high school thought it'd be a great idea to add Capture the Flag to part of P.E. While most of us hid and took our free hour in what was, at the time, a relatively dense and lush forest immediately behind the high school, some bit and decided to actually play the game in a hinterland of stinging nettles.While I usually hid in the bushes, I'm considerably more interested now in the strategy element of the game that was wildly neglected in high school.

Capture the Flag is currently finding a resurgence in urban areas among adults; there are currently organized games in many large cities including Toronto, Washington DC, and San Francisco. Vancouver's game is about to be merged with Vancouver Improv Everywhere to host a monthly event in the heart of the downtown core. Judging from their blog, they seem to be a fun group of people with nicknames like The Major, Statsman, Klopp, and a bevy of sexual innuendos unfit for publication.

The event is free and is to begin at Yaletown Skytrain Station between 3:30 - 4 PM on Saturday, June 4th. Please expect to arrive early, as I doubt they'll be waiting for you, soldier.

Brewery Creek Beer Festival

Beatty Street Drill Hall, 1901

Yesterday I attended the inaugural Brewery Creek Beer festival at the Beatty Street Drill Hall. It was the first time I'd ever been inside the beautiful brick building, which is celebrating it's 110th birthday this year. Vancouver has never truly been known for it's need for military might, but I'm often fascinated by the few reminders that war was once a tangible threat in Vancouver. Designed by David Ewart, the architect behind Victoria's magestic Museum of Nature, this limestone armoury is as impressive as it's three foot walls imply.

Museum of Nature, Victoria

Inside, the event was home to nearly 20 American craft brews, notably including Deschutes and Rogue, and the thirty dollars paid in advance yielded a 5 oz taster glass and three tokens, which were redeemable for the liquid I crave most. My friend and I quickly moved to buy up more tokens and took a liking to Deschutes, Shipyard, and Elysian, but were disappointed by the offerings of Buckbean. Their Orange Blossom Ale was a massive disappointment, and honestly tasted like someone had dropped orange zest into your standard pale ale. Blech.

The whole event was overseen by new Vancouver band The King Rails, who provided some awesome rock and roll throwback for the 850 beer aficionados in the hall. There is a growing microbrewing scene in Vancouver and neighbouring coastal cities. I personally recommend The Alibi Room and St. Augustine's for their incredible variety, or Steamworks and the under-promoted Granville Island Brewing Taproom for brews produced hyper-locally.